Jul 11, 2026 · 29 min · 10 segments
As U.S. and Israeli strikes hit targets across Iran, some of the country's most treasured cultural sites found themselves in the blast zone. Reuters reporters gained rare access to historic palaces…
Michael PellGuest
Kim VinnellHost
Its ruler, Shah Abbas the Great, has transformed Isfahan into the capital of Persia.
Arcades line the square, housing hundreds of shops where merchants trade silk, spices, and carpets.
There are promenades, public executions, and polo matches watched by the Shah himself.
Four magnificent buildings draw the eye on every side of the square, including the royal mosque, with its soaring domes and turquoise tiles, regarded as one of the greatest achievements of Safavid architecture.
For centuries, it stood as a symbol of one of the world's great civilizations, but this year, the US and Israel went to war with Iran.
While the war was still raging, Reuters journalists gained rare access to this square, now known as Naqsh-e Jahan, and its surrounds, as well as two historic palaces in Tehran.
They found glass carpeting floors, plaster and broken tiles crunching underfoot, firsthand witnesses to the damage caused to Iran's historic sites from falling bombs.
For this episode of On Assignment, I spoke to data journalist Michael Pell, who was part of a team of editors, visual journalists, and graphics experts who took all of that information and turned it into an investigation to uncover exactly what happened.
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Its ruler, Shah Abbas the Great, has transformed Isfahan into the capital of Persia.
Arcades line the square, housing hundreds of shops where merchants trade silk, spices, and carpets.
There are promenades, public executions, and polo matches watched by the Shah himself.
Four magnificent buildings draw the eye on every side of the square, including the royal mosque, with its soaring domes and turquoise tiles, regarded as one of the greatest achievements of Safavid architecture.
For centuries, it stood as a symbol of one of the world's great civilizations, but this year, the US and Israel went to war with Iran.
While the war was still raging, Reuters journalists gained rare access to this square, now known as Naqsh-e Jahan, and its surrounds, as well as two historic palaces in Tehran.
They found glass carpeting floors, plaster and broken tiles crunching underfoot, firsthand witnesses to the damage caused to Iran's historic sites from falling bombs.
For this episode of On Assignment, I spoke to data journalist Michael Pell, who was part of a team of editors, visual journalists, and graphics experts who took all of that information and turned it into an investigation to uncover exactly what happened.
